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Psychology clinic to teach ‘insomnia 101’

Brian Sharpless, WSU Psychology Clinic director
Brian Sharpless

The WSU Psychology Clinic is currently screening people to take part in group sessions aimed at treating their insomnia. Brian Sharpless, clinic director, said the sessions will feature “state-of-the-art” therapy methods to help participants learn about what causes the problem and what they can do to improve their sleep.

“A lot of people will start sleeping better within two to three weeks of treatment,” Sharpless said.
Learn more about the insomnia research.

Urban night shift police more likely to suffer long-term job injuries, study finds

Police officers working the night shift are significantly more likely to suffer long-term on-the-job injuries than officers on day and afternoon shifts, according to a new study co-authored by Bryan Vila, professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology and the Sleep and Performance Research Center at WSU Spokane.

According to the research, independent of age and gender, urban officers working nights were three times more likely than those on the day shift, and 2.2 times more likely than those on the afternoon shift, to suffer injuries resulting in leaves of more than 90 days.

Learn more about the study

Philosophy forum to explore free will Jan. 23-24

Alfred Mele
Alfred Mele

Recent discoveries in neuroscience are challenging long-held beliefs about conscious decision making, or “free will.” Alfred Mele, an expert in action theory, will examine this critical intersection of science and philosophy in two free, public events Jan. 23-24 at WSU Pullman.

On Thursday, Mele will deliver the 52nd Frank Fraser Potter Memorial Lecture in Philosophy, “Free Will and Neuroscience: What Do Old-School and New-Wave Studies Show?” at 7 p.m. in the Compton Union Building (CUB) Auditorium.

On Friday, he will present the Potter Talk, “The Power of Situations, People and Education,” at noon in Bryan Hall 308.

More about the Potter philosophy events

Innovative police safety app debuts at White House conference

Bryan Vila
Bryan Vila

A computer application to help reduce fatigue and improve police officer safety will be presented at a White House innovation conference Tuesday, Jan. 14, by Bryan Vila, professor of criminal justice and criminology, WSU Spokane.

Ten teams from White House “DataJam” safety innovation competitions nationwide were invited to present their projects at the White House Safety Datapalooza in Washington D.C. Vila and his team developed the BeSharp app to monitor objective assessments of police officers’ fatigue rather than depending on self-assessments, since performance can be seriously impaired by the time officers actually feel drowsy.

Read more about BeSharp

Jan. 27-31: Humanities Week looks at scholarship, influence

Three free, public presentations will highlight Humanities Week presented by the WSU Humanities Planning Group.

Guest speakers from Duke and Michigan State universities will join WSU faculty in covering a range of topics, including:

  • “Is a Little Pollution Good for You? How the Humanities Can Contribute to Science and Policy”
  • “Four Glimpses of Scholarship in the Humanities: A Roundtable”
  • “Cosmopolitan Humanities”
  • “Empathy and Religious Diversity”

Get more details and a list of events